America Online (AOL) is giving its AIM instant messaging software a complete overhaul, including a major redesign of the user interface and a remodeled underlying code architecture. The user interface is being altered to take into account that instant messaging now goes beyond simple PC-to-PC text exchanges and also includes video and audio communication, as well as connections with wireless devices.
Meanwhile, the code architecture is being transformed to integrate into the product some important software advancements that have become available in recent years. A early beta version of this next-generation AIM, code-named Triton, is now available for free download at https://beta.aol.com/. "This [early] beta is the first of many steps we"re taking to improve this application. Over the coming months going into the fall what you"ll see is that every few weeks there will be an incremental improvement made to the product," said Chamath Palihapitiya, vice president and general manager of AIM and ICQ at Dulles, Virginia-based AOL.